Paperjam.lu

Luxembourg's foreign affairs minister Jean Asselborn, has called on the EU to trigger Article 7 proceedings against Hungary.Pictured: Viktor Orbán, leader of Fidesz and current Hungarian prime minister.Picture credit: EU 2017EE Estonian presidency 

Previously, Orbán had said in his annual state of the nation speech that Hungary was the last country to resist Islamic civilisation, and that “Western Europe has become an immigrant, mixed world and is heading towards a new developmental future, different from Central Europe.”

The Fidesz leader, who has been in office for the past 8 years and is set to win the upcoming April elections, also said:

“We are those who think that Europe’s last hope is Christianity … If hundreds of millions of young people are allowed to move north, there will be enormous pressure on Europe. If all this continues, in the big cities of Europe there will be a Muslim majority.”

According to Der Tagesspiegel, Luxembourg’s foreign affairs minister reacted sharply to Orbán’s announcement that he would close down refugee organisations in his country:

“This attitude fits a dictator, for whom staying in power is more important than any political and moral decency.”

The Hungarian parliament will debate this week a draft law which foresees more financial screening.

He said that these statements should lead to the triggering of Article 7, the sanctions procedure that the European Union set up in case a member state persistently breaches the EU’s founding values (democracy, freedom, the rule of law, equality, respect for human dignity and respect for human rights), adding that “the EU must stand up and revolt”. This is not the first time the Luxembourg foreign affairs minister has criticised the current Fidesz government.

Previously, the European Commission had launched such a sanctions procedure against Poland, because of its controversial reforms of the judicial system.

Orbán had said in his speech:

“However absurd, the situation is that the danger threatens us today from the West. This danger is brought to a head by Brussels, Berlin and Paris politicians. They want us to take over their policies, the policy that made them an immigrant country and opened the way for the decline of Christian culture and the spread of Islam. They want us to accept migrants and become mixed-populations.”

He noted however that Hungary was not alone anymore; there was solidarity between the Visegrad countries on the issue, and that “the Croatians have come to their senses, Austria has just turned patriotic and Christian, and in Bavaria, under the leadership of the CSU, intellectual and political resistance was built, perhaps not too late . And we are looking forward to the Italian election results and the turn with which the common sense, Italian national and cultural awareness and Silvio Berlusconi will again be in government.”

Orbán also accused the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe as being the “main ideologues of the Soros Network”.

On the UN, he stated:

“What does the United Nations want to do? The United Nations wants to accept that immigration and its promotion contribute positively to economic growth and prosperity. From Europe, this is obviously nonsense, as if someone said that the flu pandemic is a good thing because it contributes favorably to people's health and well-being. According to the UN, safe and regulated immigration routes need to be established in Europe, according to the United Nations, all Europeans have a duty to help immigrants arrive in their settlements and work. We understand that 80 percent of the UN member states are more migrant countries, but we have not created the United Nations to turn to us and force us to ruin us.”